Atlanta

Neighbors upset it took police 2 hours to respond to 911 call

By Lauren Pozen, WSB-TV
By Lauren Pozen, WSB-TV

ATLANTA — Some Atlanta residents say they have major concerns over police response times after calling 911.

One neighbor told Channel 2's Lauren Pozen that a man crashed into multiple cars along his street, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage – and then lingered in the neighborhood.

“The guy hit my car head on, stopped about right here and then backed into my wife car,” neighbor Michael Compton told Pozen, showing her the direction the car was going.

Compton said he has nearly $8,000 worth of damage between his wife’s car and his. But that’s not why he reached out to Channel 2 Action News.

“I am really more concerned about why it took over two hours for somebody to show up here,” Compton said.

He said the incident happened two weeks ago around 10:30 p.m.

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“We came outside to check it out, found damage on both of our cars found the guys truck parked over here in the middle of the street and nobody in it,” Compton told Pozen.  

He said five different neighbors told him they called 911. His wife also called 911 twice and showed Pozen her call log. 

“When my wife called back that second time, about 11:57 p.m., they told her that they didn’t have our street as the scene of the incident. Seems a little weird that five different neighbors called and they didn’t have the correct address,” Compton said. 

All they could do is wait. 

“About 40 minutes go by, the guy comes back down, gets in his truck and drives away,” Compton said. 

Pozen brought the incident to APD’s attention. They say they couldn't find a report related to this call. 

Now the office of professional standards is investigating the incident. 

APD sent Pozen a statement, saying:

“When people call 911, they expect a timely response.  The delay in getting officers to the scene of this call in a timely manner is of great concern to us. Additionally, we have been unable to locate a report related to this call, which is also problematic. Due to these concerns, we are referring this incident to our Office of Professional Standards for further investigation. We need to get an understanding of any possible breakdowns that occurred here.”

“Had there been any kind of injury I don’t know if they would have showed up faster or if we should have said something different to create some urgency,” Compton told Pozen.  

Compton said he gave police the license plate off the truck of the driver. 

Police weren't able say who they were looking for since they couldn't find a report. 

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